Walter Kraft

Stone by stone, Imrich is building a small house for his daughter Eva almost entirely on his own. But for Eva, who is about to graduate from school, the prospect of moving into the house is about as appealing as being imprisoned in a jail she herself has helped to build. She has very different plans for her future...

The story of Jarda Kuchař, a hero of the bygone era of Tuzex vouchers. His income comes from renting out his own apartment. Every summer, he is forced to spend his time at an abandoned pond, where he runs an even more abandoned snack bar. His right-hand man (and he is left-handed) is the local simpleton Kamil Hošpes. Among the handful of customers are two tractor drivers, Jirka and Péťa, and Jarda's sworn enemy, the fanatical fisherman Pepa Vrtílek with his dog Pepík. The capricious summer days are disrupted by an apparition of monstrous proportions. Lojza, a monster catfish, emerges from the depths of the third irrigation category and eats Vrtílek's dog. Jarda Kuchař sees Lojza as an opportunity to revive local tourism. He calls on fishermen from all over the country. And two actually arrive...

A son obsessed with solving the murky death of his father arranges a rafting expedition down the same treacherous river where the tragedy took place.